Instability in Indian Agriculture - NCAP

Instability in Indian Agriculture
Physical production of food grains shows decline in instability in the
second period compared to first period and in the third period compared
to the second period even when extreme years are included in the data
set. Instability in area under cereals as well as pulses turned out to be
much higher in the first phase of green revolution compared to pre green
revolution period and remained at almost same level during 1989 to
2007.
Instability in area under oilseeds increased by 9 per cent between pre
green revolution and first phase of green revolution and further by 14 per
cent during recent period. Instability in yield during the corresponding
periods increased by about 8 per cent and 22 per cent. Oilseed production
witnessed increase in instability from 12.74 during 1951-1966 to 17.06
during 1968 -1988 and further to 18.36 during 1989-2007. Yield of
cereal and pulses was more stable after pre green revolution period
whereas opposite holds true for oilseeds.
Instability in production of total cereal during first phase of green
revolution declined by 1.5 per cent and after 1988 the decline turned out
to be 13 per cent. In the case of pulses first phase of green revolution
experienced a decline in instability to the extent of 5.4 per cent but post
1988 period witnessed an increase of 2 per cent. Between cereals and
pulses the latter shows higher instability in all the periods and in all
respects. Instability in production and productivity of oilseeds remained
higher than even pulses after 1968.
Instability in area, production and yield of individual crops is presented
in Table 5. Coconut shows minimum instability among all the selected
crops in almost all respects during pre green revolution and during the
first phase of green revolution. In terms of instability in production it
remained at bottom even during the third period. However, sugarcane
yield shows least instability followed by wheat in the third period. Maize
shows minimum instability in area among the selected crops which also
declined over time. Among cereals, bajra showed highest instability in all
the periods and in all respects. Adoption of green revolution technology
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